The Verve…and we just took a nine-year vacation.
By Bob Tan
Collisions. Screeching brakes, a malicious tackle,careless words stabbed in like razor-sharp blades. And they usually hit you at your weakest. It happens in relationships and it happens in bands. Bands break up for a multitude of reasons. Here’s looking at three major ones that broke up one of the defining bands of Alternative Rock in the 90s.
Like their anthem Bitter Sweet Symphony (of which they never earned a cent for because the Rolling Stones sued them off their pants for 'appropriating' the violin motif), the Verve, formed in 1989 have had a rough ride and have been broken up a few times more than your usual band.
Emerging as what was described by rock critic Greil Marcus as part of the neo-Beatles brigade, the Verve came into prominence with contemporaries Oasis in the 90s. Playing a brand of alternative/psychedelic rock that the Beatles might have pursued had they stayed intact after their swansong Abbey Road album, the Verve became one of the most influential British bands of the 90s. Front man Richard Ashcroft described the Verve as the greatest band in the world, and few critics disagreed. The Verve had a huge impact on some of the top acts today.
Travis and Keane have played tribute, and during Live8 in 2005, Coldplay’s
Chris Martin introduced Richard Ashcroft as the greatest singer in
the world when his band performed a cover of Bitter Sweet Symphony.
Completing the line up of the band from Wigan were Nick McCabe on guitar,
Simon Jones on bass and Peter Salisbury on drums.
The Verve’s signature oceanic soundscape of big room swirling effects
dropped hints for a potential source of conflict by way of their first
glitch - narcotics and alcohol binges. The period after their first full
album “A Storm in Heaven” in 1993 signaled their first deadly flirtatious
dances and their infamous luck with touring. Richard Ashcroft was
hospitalized for dehydration aftering OD-ing on ecstasy while drummer
Peter Salisbury was arrested for destroying a hotel room in an apparent
drug-fuelled frenzy on a tour in the US.
Like their primary influences the Beatles, Pink Floyd and the Raspberries, the band was doomed to follow in their heroes’ footsteps – with music that were to last forever, but not the bands. The Verve was to take this a few more steps further.
The follow-up album, “A Northern Soul” in 1995 peaked at #13 in the UK.
It was highlighted with Ashcroft disbanding the unit just three months
later. All too easy to point the finger at the copious amount of drug use
during the recording process, the breakup brought to light the second
glitch - tensions and power struggles between the band’s chief wordsmith
Ashcroft and chief songwriter McCabe. Having two creative geniuses in a
band never boded well, a la Metallica’s James Hetfield versus Lars
Ulrich, Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters versus Dave Gilmour.
Ashcroft quickly reassembled the band a few weeks later, first with
Suede’s Bernard Butler (that lasted just a week due to ego clashes), then
inviting childhood friend and guitarist Simon Tong on board, leaving
McCabe out of the picture. The jury is still out if this was a move for
Ashcroft to maintain his seat as creative Nazi in the band.
The breakup had seemed to make the band stronger. In 1997, the band set
aside its differences and reformed with McCabe back on board. The single
Bitter Sweet Symphony entered the UK charts at #2 and scored #12 in the
US. Their album Urban Hymns and the sardonically titled second single
“The Drugs don’t Work” came in #1 in the same year.
They also managed to break into the notoriously difficult US market, earned
a platinum record, and a Grammar nomination all at the same time.
While on tour to promote the album, their bad luck with touring continued. Bassist Simon Jones collapsed backstage twice in the Germany leg and McCabe barely lasted a year. He dropped out of the band whilst on tour in the UK due to “the increasing stress of touring” leaving lead guitar duties with Simon Tong yet again. This was the third apparent glitch with the band, a lead guitarist who hated touring. The band’s spokesperson Tim Vigon revealed that McCabe was never comfortable with the touring situation. "He is a man of great principle. He just looked at the American dates and said I can't and won't do these. Being trapped in a van just isn't on his agenda at the moment."
The band announced their breakup shortly after in April 1999 to the
despair of legions of fans. Fast forward to 2007. After 9 years apart, the Verve is back for a third reformation sans Simon Tong. Announcements were made on the BBC that the band had reformed with an album to be launched later in the year with the official line that the band is “getting back together
for the joy of the music”.
Perhaps the Eagles put it right when they said, “we never broke up, we
just took a 14 year vacation.” Let’s see what the Verve has to offer now.
Bob Tan
